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The Bureau of Land Management (BLM) is hosting two public meetings on plans to mow down nearly 11 square miles of intact desert wildlands to build the Gemini Solar power project, which would be located northeast of Las Vegas along the entrance road to Valley of Fire State Park. It will be very important for concerned citizens to attend because most environmental groups have taken a muted stance on the project, even though it is expected to displace up to 260 desert tortoises, and wipe out beavertail and silver cholla cacti, burrowing owl nesting locations and imperil a rare plant found in only a few places in the Mojave.

[UPDATE: These meetings have concluded, but you can still submit comments by e-mail up to September 5. Scroll down for details on how to submit comments.]Any member of the public is welcome to attend the meetings, and public comment sessions are during the last hour of each session:

"As we focus on climate change, we must also act decisively to protect
the living world while we still have time. It would be humanity’s
ultimate achievement." - E.O. Wilson
Nevada is poised to vote on whether to increase its
renewable portfolio standard (RPS) - the share of electricity required to come
from renewable sources - to 50% by the year 2030, without any plan for
protecting Nevada's increasingly vulnerable wildlands. An increased RPS
without corresponding plans to protect wildlands is sure to spur a
second rush of solar and wind projects, but continuing to burn fossil
fuels will compound the ongoing harmful effects of climate change on
that same landscape. A more sensible path - providing stronger
incentives for solar on rooftops and over parking lots and diverting
larger projects to already-disturbed lands - has eluded the state's
policymakers and environmental groups.
The
ballot measure - Question 6 - will essentially authorize Nevada's…

The Gemini Solar project proposed for desert wildlands next to the Valley of Fire State Park could displace or kill over 260 desert tortoises and dozens of kit foxes, American badgers and western burrowing owls, according to recently released wildlife surveys (1, 2). Climate change poses an urgent threat to these same wildlife, but it is inexcusable to bulldoze wildlands to install the same solar panels that can just as easily be installed on rooftops or already-disturbed lands. If we are destroying wildlands to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, then we are perpetuating the stunningly short-sighted sacrifice of nature to continue feeding otherwise unsustainable consumption, despite readily available options that have much lower impact on wildlife.

Wildlife Surveys Highlight Poor Location Choice for Solar Project

Biologists conducted two surveys in 2018 and 2017 and discovered that the proposed Gemini Solar project site currently hosts a diverse array of wildlife. Based on the surveys,…

Nevadans are poised to lose access to hundreds of square miles of desert and mountain wildlands over the next few years, and elected officials appear to be looking the other way. The crush of proposals to convert desert and mountain wildlands into sprawling solar and wind facilities, natural gas drilling fields, expanded military bases, and urban sprawl has left outdoor enthusiasts' efforts divided as they chase each individual threat. When desert communities in neighboring California faced a similar onslaught, the chorus of concern prompted policy changes at the local, State and Federal level to better guide development and protect desert wildlands and rural areas. No such rescue effort appears on the horizon in Nevada.

Nevada's wildlands are treasured by hikers, backcountry 4x4 groups, hunters, campers, astronomers, photographers, wildlife-watchers, mountain bikers, rockhounds
and a myriad of others. The outdoor experience they cherish is one of
vast landscapes where…

A preliminary study released by the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) further underscores that the proposed Crescent Peak Wind project will spoil an outdoor gem in southern Nevada, threatening a golden eagle hot spot and impeding mule deer and bighorn sheep habitat. The Sweden-based wind company hopes to begin construction of this project on public lands by next year if it can secure BLM's approval.

Study Shows Turbines Would Jeopardize Golden Eagles

The study, contracted by project developer Eolus Wind, erroneously downplays the potential impact on golden eagles. However, the data presented shows that golden eagles use the proposed project site extensively. According to the preliminary study, nearly 118 golden eagle nests were identified within ten miles of the proposed project. During the surveys golden eagles were spotted flying above the proposed project site 36 times. The data clearly establishes that golden eagles frequently use the area for forage, and fly at heights that w…

A quintessential rite of passage for Mojave explorers will no longer offer the same journey into unconfined and wild desert that generations of travelers have shared if a Sweden-based company gets its way. A document released by the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) under a Freedom of Information Act request indicates that towering wind turbines of the proposed Crescent Peak Wind project would be visible from a majority of the Mojave Road in the eastern Mojave desert.

The Mojave Road is a historic route traversed for centuries by Native Americans, European explorers and present-day adventurers. Much of the route crosses public lands and the natural character of the landscape provides travelers an experience not much different from that of generations past. Joshua trees and creosote bushes dominate the landscape for miles around, with little reminder of the industrial era. But that could change now that the BLM is reviewing an application by Sweden-based company Eolus Vind to develop…

Clark County Commissioners seem intent on approving more urban sprawl in the Las Vegas Valley at a meeting on February 7. On the meeting's agenda is a plan by Gypsum Resources to build a nearly 5,000-home community on top of Blue Diamond Hill on the edge of Red Rock Canyon National Conservation Area, a popular outdoor escape near Las Vegas, Nevada. The County Commissioners have been advised by their own planning commission not to approve the project because the development would be a significant departure from the county's original master plan that requires the area remain low-density and rural.

The County is suing a grassroots community group opposed to the Blue Diamond Hill sprawl in an effort to undermine opposition to the plans, suggesting the County Commissioners are on the side of the developer. If built, the tract homes and businesses would be visible to visitors at Red Rock Canyon, increase light pollution, and add significant traffic congestion to nearby roads that…

The Department of the Air Force is proposing to withdrawal an additional 301,507 acres (approximately 471 square miles) of public land to expand the already-massive Nevada Test and Training Range. The proposed withdraw will likely involve restricting public access and degrading important wildlife habitat, including lands in the Desert National Wildlife Refuge near Las Vegas, and also parcels in the upper Amargosa Valley north of Beatty, Nevada (see map below). This effort is separate from proposed legislation currently sitting in Congress that would withdrawal even more land from the Refuge.

The Air Force is in the initial stages of its environmental review process, and will be sharing more details about its plans at public scoping meetings in October. However, a study conducted for the Air Force and published online earlier this year suggests the Air Force wants greater flexibility to place ground targets in lands in the Desert National Wildlife Refuge. It is not clear why the e…

The desert tortoise population continues to experience a significant decline, despite 26 years of recovery efforts under the Endangered Species Act. Since 2004 - years into the recovery effort - the overall population has declined by nearly 32%, and the decline is even steeper in certain portions of the tortoise's range.

This startling trend is not evident in the Department of Interior's public posture, which is optimistic on the ability of landscape-level planning to protect habitat linkages and project-level mitigation to offset local population losses. A closer examination of land management and mitigation practices calls into question Interior's resolve to arrest the decline of the desert tortoise as its habitat becomes increasingly fragmented.

Tortoise Population Spirals Downward
When
the desert tortoise was listed as threatened under the Endangered
Species Act in 1990, initial research and anecdotal evidence suggested
human impacts were chiefly responsible for d…

NextEra Energy is proposing to build a 250 megawatt solar project in Nevada's Pahrump Valley that would destroy 4.6 square miles of intact desert habitat on public land. The project would further push the distance that residents of the Las Vegas area will travel to experience desert wildlands not scarred by industrial-scale energy projects. The Ivanpah, El Dorado, and Moapa areas to the south and north of Las Vegas have lost approximately 21 square miles of desert habitat to industrial-scale solar development in the past few years.

Approximate area under consideration by NextEra for the Yellow Pine Solar project in the Pahrump Valley. The total application area covers over 9,000 acres, and the final project would destroy approximately 3,000 acres of the parcel.
Some of the lands being considered for the project host desert tortoises already relocated once from a Clark County sanctuary, meaning the animals that survived the initial translocation will again be jeopardized, accord…